Gallery: Urban Planning Ideas for 2030, When Billions Will Live in Megacities
Courtesy NLÉ and Zoohaus/Inteligencias Colectivas and MoMA01lagos376
A new exhibit opens at MoMA tomorrow. Called *Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Growing Megacities*, it looks at how urban planners could work informal housing developments to make megacities more livable.
Courtesy NLÉ and Zoohaus/Inteligencias Colectivas and MoMA02lagos293
This is an imagined view of Lagos, Nigeria, in 2050. Thirty percent of Lagos is currently underwater, leading to "water slum" housing, and the roads are congested with SUVs. Architects propose embracing the water to create transportation and economic opportunity, like in Venice or Amsterdam.
Courtesy NLÉ and Zoohaus/Inteligencias Colectivas and MoMA03lagos165
By transforming existing infrastructure, like gas generators, into architecture for renewable energy, Lagos would go off the grid.
Courtesy MAP Office and MoMA04hongkong293
Hong Kong's population is growing fast, but the city is mostly surrounded by water. Architects propose building eight new islands off the coast, each one dedicated to an economic activity. This one is the island of surplus, where waste gets sent for future use.
Courtesy Superpool and MoMA05istanbul353
Istanbul's middle class aspires to live in TOKIs, gated communities where everyone owns a car, many gadgets, and could soon be in debt. This rendering shows what TOKIs could be like if they turn into new-age communes and embracing car, compost, and service sharing, along with solar panels and local gardens.
Courtesy URBZ and MoMA06mumbai135
Almost 12 million of Mumbai's residents live in informal "tool houses," slum-like structures where people live and work. Rather than razing these for high-rises, architects propose validating them.
Courtesy URBZ and MoMA07mumbai281
Part of the proposal includes investing and developing new lightweight construction materials to allow ad-hoc spaces to be built safely.
Courtesy Cohabitation Strategies (COHSTRA) and MoMA08newyork156
Luxury developments have created a housing shortage for many New Yorkers. That leads to rent burden and illegally subdivided apartments. Housing Cooperative Trusts are proposed here, in which the city, non-profits, community stakeholders, and tenants would all co-own rehabilitated buildings and ensure long-term affordable housing.
Courtesy SITU Studio and MoMA09newyork285
Community Growth Organizations would also form, to turn underutilized spaces—like yards and rooftops—into pockets of economic activity. (To be fair, this type of local urban planning is already underway in New York.)
10rio246
Rio is well known for its favelas. The urban planners for this project decided to create a new consumer catalog that encourages people to build add-ons.
Courtesy RUA Arquitetos and MAS Urban Design, ETH Zurich and MoMA11rio334
That catalog would be called Veranda Products. By selling consumer goods that make ad-hoc building easier, the city could foster small-scale entrepreneurial projects, and therefore give poorer *cariocas* access to more economic activity.
Spooky New Infostealer Malware Uses AI to ‘Autodox’ Victims
Named “Volta-Autodoxer,” the recently uncovered malware uses AI tools to collect troves of data about victims, from login credentials and credit card numbers to Discord sessions and UberEats receipts.
Lily Hay Newman
There’s a Completely New Type of Whisky. It’s French and Made in Concrete Eggs
The founders of Maison Lineti are, in a world first, making single malt whisky as if it were wine—and the spirit world is mighty impressed.
Jeremy White
Light Up Your Home Like Christmas With These Smart String Lights
Glow up your home indoors or out with these versatile, discounted, full color smart string lights. They’re WIRED-tested and 25 percent off right now.
Simon Hill
Power Outages Are No Match for This Fridge Battery
Backup by BioLite is designed to power your fridge when the grid goes down. It works, but protecting your ice cream doesn’t come cheap.
Christopher Null
Meta’s Muse Could Upend All Kinds of Businesses. It Hasn’t Yet
Companies have spent the past several weeks trying to reassure investors that Muse and other AI agents pose more of an opportunity than a threat.
Paresh Dave
An AI Agent Injected Drugs Into a Live Mouse’s Brain
A biotech startup let an agent choose a gene therapy and successfully inject the treatment, offering a startling glimpse of the future of research labs.
Emily Mullin
Get Bose QC Headphones at Their Lowest Price Ever
They’re a steal at over 40 percent off in multiple colors. Plus, other great Bose deals you should know about ahead of Black Friday.
Harry Rabinowitz
The Keurig Alta Brewer Can Do It All, With No Plastic Pods
This multifaceted home coffee brewer and its new AltaRounds will make you rethink everything you know about Keurig machines.
Louryn Strampe
Are Memories Transferable? Meet the Scientists Replicating an Infamous Study to Find Out
In the 1960’s, an odd experiment showed planarian worms could transfer memories by consuming each other. It was a sensational finding—that is until the worms stopped learning.
Claire L. Evans
Sunrise Alarm Clocks to Help You Adjust to Shorter Days
I’ve never been a morning person. This bedside gadget is the only thing that’s ever changed that.
Nena Farrell
White Dwarfs Aren’t Just White. Scientists Discover Dying Stars Turning Pink and Green
Astronomers find that a white dwarf’s density and the kind of material it absorbed from its surroundings can produce a rainbow of shades in the star’s atmosphere.
Petr Kubala
Wayfair Coupons for November 2026
Get 10% off with Wayfair promo code, up to 80% off furniture, and more top coupons.
Molly Higgins